Kishida appeals to the “responsibility” of China, considered the “biggest challenge” by Sunak

2023-05-21 19:10:06

While one appealed to China’s responsibility, the other considered it the “greatest challenge of our era.” Dominated by the presence of the President of Ukraine, Volodímir Zelenski, the G-7 summit in Hiroshima ended today with new appeals to China, the other great protagonist of the meeting.

Softening the harsh messages of the final communiqué, which has set out to combat its “economic coercion” and confront “its non-market practices that distort the global economy”, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida urged Beijing to “walk together in the global challenges that all countries share”. In a symbolic appearance before the press in the Peace Park, and with the cenotaph and the atomic bomb dome behind him, Kishida called on China to “act responsibly on issues that affect the international community, including Ukraine”.

The Japanese prime minister assured that all the members of the G-7, which include the most advanced democracies and the European Union, agree on “cooperation with China on global challenges.” But he once again showed his concern about the tension in the South and East China seas and called for a peaceful resolution for Taiwan, a de facto democratic and independent island claimed by Beijing.

Linking this dispute with the war in Ukraine, the Japanese Prime Minister congratulated himself on the success of this G-7 summit with his invited countries, which had brought together President Zelenski with leaders from the Global South such as Modi from India and Lula from Brazil. In his opinion, the meeting has served to “send a message that it is unacceptable to change the status quo unilaterally and by force anywhere in the world.”

A native of Hiroshima, Kishida explained that “there was no better place to hold a peace summit” and again rejected both nuclear weapons and the threat of their use, as Putin has done with Ukraine.

For his part, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak warned that China is “the greatest challenge of our era” because, in his opinion, it has become more “authoritarian” inside and “assertive” outside.